Undeterred, Keaton claimed that he never refused a stunt, however dangerous; in fact, he frequently doubled for other actors when they needed to take a fall. That’s because he was a pro, who had learned to land soft and withstand a few knocks from his childhood in vaudeville, playing The Little Boy Who Can’t Be Damaged in a family act. For Keaton, it was almost second nature to “land like a cat”, using the art he called “body control”.

bindeweede wrote:
Here's a clip I came across earlier today. Some obvious editing with the tree part, but still impressive stuff.

Yes, impressive - even if those rocks look suspiciously regular and lightweight!

I have tripped and fallen forwards quite heavily a few times recently (mostly I think because some unfamiliar varifocal glasses caused me to misjudge kerbs etc). But I have twisted sideways to avoid hitting face-first, and have escaped with minor shoulder bruises. That is an entirely instinctive reaction, I have never trained to fall nor done any sports which involve falling. I did wonder about it because a woman I know broke a tooth in a similar incident so obviously lacked the same reflexes.

Has anyone done any relevant research into the way people fall? Given our ageing population....